Legal experts have assured him that section 2.2 allows the Welsh Assembly to amend the exempt hunting section of the Act.

He told NFU Cymru members: "Such an amendment could be worded to allow more than two dogs to be used to flush foxes to guns.

"As Lord Burns highlighted, effective fox control will not be possible in Wales without dogs."

An amendment would require a Transfer of Function Order which could come from countryside minister Carwyn Jones or the Assembly itself, he said.

Lord Thomas said the Assembly had already shown it was prepared to work with farmers to bring policies which were relevant to Welsh agriculture.

However he said there was a risk farming would be sidelined by a department which encompasses the environment and planning.

He said: "With this being such a large and wide-ranging portfolio there is a possibility that agricultural interests are not always given the attention they deserve. As a minimum, I feel there should be a deputy minister with specific responsibilities for agriculture."